


fighter, rogue, princess

by scrxbble



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Pre-Canon, Sisters, Unedited We Die Like Men, for a while, spoilers for ACOC episode 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:01:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24359992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrxbble/pseuds/scrxbble
Summary: the titles of jet and ruby rocks, from birth to bastard
Relationships: Jet Rocks & Ruby Rocks
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	fighter, rogue, princess

they were princesses from the moment they were born, caramelinda’s skin slick with sweet sweat and her face shining as two twin bundles were set, squalling, into her arms. amethar was speechless with love as he looked at his children - daughters, a nursemaid had said, two healthy daughters, my lord - a fuzz of dark hair on each head. his hand was nearly as big as their bodies, and he held the older, marveling at dark licorice skin and lungs that are already powerful enough to scream at a volume to match her sister, who was nestled next to amethar in his wife’s arms, bright pink that will darken as she grows older. his heart thudded, and he whispered to them softly as their mother rested. “my little princesses,” he murmurs, “my girls.”

they become duchesses three days later. before the citizens of candia and the light of the bulb, their mother and father standing on a balcony with one sugar-linen wrapped child each, they are named princess jet rocks, duchess of gumberly, heir to the throne, and princess ruby rocks, duchess of piehole. there was a cheer, and the king smiled, and in their white dresses, hands reaching for each other's warmth, the twins seemed to smile too.

the people of the castle call them princess jet and princess ruby, or simply “my lady” as they pass. servants bow in their direction and cooks give them treats when they wander in, unable to resist wide eyes and, even as young as they are, the sway that their titles hold. their mother calls them jet and ruby, at first soft with affection and then, as they grow older and tumble closer to trouble, sharp and scolding, adding their last name whenever she has them lined up in front of her to dole out punishment. their father calls them jet and ruby too, but his booming voice is always excited to see them run past him, and as he hugs them he slips them candied treats or sits them on his knees to tell them a story about their aunts.

they call each other sister, or sis, or don’t use names but send glances across the table and squeeze pinkies behind their backs when it is best to keep quiet. they don’t need to speak to convey what they mean, a wink or a raised eyebrow or a warm body to hug after a nightmare all saying the same thing:  _ you’re my sister and i love you. _

when they are eight, it is their father who first calls them little rogues, notices the rips in the hem of their dress and a peppermint twig in ruby’s hair from the gardens. he tells them about their aunt sapphria, her talent for slipping into and out of rooms like a candy corn fox, and though jet’s head still only has room for rococoa, ruby spends the next month convinced of her own secret calling to her aunt’s legacy. she is rewarded when a panel in their bedroom wall opens and a tiny passageway appears, too small for an adult but just right for a princess or two.

sir theobald always calls them by their titles, and his stiff stance never wavers, even when jet follows him around the entire courtyard begging for a lesson. chancellor lapin only ever call them princess, and they giggle to themselves that he does not know which one of them is which. lord calroy is always next to them to remind them of other people’s titles that they need to know and, when they tumble out of a passageway right next to him, promises not to tell their mother and shows them a door that leads outside the castle walls and into the freedom of dulcington.

when they are thirteen, they find an alcove in one of their passageways that has a deep blue notebook tucked away, half-faded writing on cotton candy paper detailing the secret passageways they have yet to find and a code written in the back titled  _ sister-speak _ . their father, for reasons they can’t understand, tears up the first time they try out their newly christened twinspeak in front of him.

ruby gives herself many titles as they grow, happy she doesn’t have the weight of heir preventing her from trying out apprentice stablemaster, castle portraitist, or troubadour. jet tries to ignore her extra title by begging anyone who will listen to give her the title of knight, or general, or warmaster. theobald refuses and she learns not to ask her mother after the first lecture.

when they are sixteen, liam arrives, and he does not call them much of anything, busy with his pig and scared, it seems, of anything that moves. their father calls him cousin, and the princesses do too, and he always seems to open his mouth for a moment before nodding hello.

when they are eighteen they become ladies of the realm. ruby has settled - for the moment - on circus performer, and jet is still desperate to be a warrior, making up for it by doubling her escape efforts and destroying the crest of arms that line the streets of dulcington.

when they are eighteen, their father is attacked on the road. ruby becomes a casualty, for a moment, before lapin snatches her back from her aunt’s arms with a whispered, “not yet, princess ruby,” and she realizes that he has always known their names. she cannot thank him before their is a new problem - the purple energy that sparkles from her fingers gives her another name to the ceresian soldiers.  _ witch. _

when they are eighteen, jet gets her wish, and she fights alongside theo, her aunt’s sword - her sword, now - drawing sour cheese blood and, when the ceresians arrive, sending the blade through a skull with the help of a young commander, who sends a thrill down her spine when he calls her a woman at arms.

when they are eighteen, they are called foolish and reckless and careless, and their arrival in comida tells them that lapin and calroy and their mother have all been right. ruby hides her hands under cloaks to feel the arcane energy at her fingertips. jet, not one to hide anything, is called a most beautiful and royal highness by the vegetanian lord thad, and a brazen candian by her tournament competitor captain annabelle cheddar, and she begins to listen to her allies more.

when they are eighteen, the first titles they were ever given are ripped away from them, and the pontifex looks them in the eyes and calls them bastards, names their father as a false king and their mother as a woman who has never been queen. their pinkies lock as ruby whispers, “call me that again,” so softly only jet can hear it, and jet is one who claims it as she rushes at the pontifex.

later, theo still calls them princesses, and their father seems too shocked to call them anything. someone calls liam prince, and he nods like always, but now his arms are empty and his gaze is dark. lapin does not call them princesses, because lapin does not call anyone anything. 

packed tightly in the darkness of a crate, stomachs turning with anxiety and seasickness and the smell of milk all-too-close to a reminder of their first battle, they whisper to each other in twin speak, pinkies interlocked, necklaces warm against their chest, and they are eighteen, they are sixteen, they are thirteen, they are eight, they have just been born and still they reach for each other. they say again, aloud, in case this is their last chance to say it:  _ you’re my sister, and i love you. _

**Author's Note:**

> i'm a sucker for sisters what can i say  
> YES the title is a reference to soldier poet king i have never listened to that song but the title makes me go ooh  
> find me on tumblr at aelwynrights for more dimension 20 content!


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